Sheet feeder



Feb. '22, 1927.

H. EHLIG SHEET FEEDER Filed Oct. 28, 1924 W y- 1. 0000050000 mangoo 9 LINVENTOR A TTORN E Y Ma Feb. 22, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT orricap HARRY EHLIG, OF I'EARL RIVER, NEW YORK,ASSIGNOR TO GEORGE E. SWART COMPANY, INC., 01: NEW YORK, N. Y., ACORPORATION OF NEW YORK' SHEET FEEDER.

. Application filed October '28, 1924. Serial No. 748,846.

My invention relates more particularly to certain novel improvements orattachments in sheet-feeding mechanism employing pneumatic means forautomatically separating and forwarding successive sheets of paper toprinting, foldIng or ruling machines, or to other types of machinesdevised thereafter to sive sheets so as-to vary the intermittent actionof the wheel in withdrawing and ad vancing such sheets,.which controlmay be manually adjusted and regulated to vary the extent of the spacingof sheets of different sizes or lengths. Heretofore in front-edgesheet-feeders embodying a revolving perforated suction feed-wheel forfeeding the sheets forwardly from either a Vertical pile or a bank offanned-out sheets, such revolving suction wheel has been rotated at aconstant peripheral speed with the variable spacings between thesuccessive sheets controlled by the variable intermitting of the suctionapplied to the perforated rim of the continuously revolvingsuction-wheel. My improved attachment provides amanual control of thevelocity or peripheral speed of the suction feed-wheel so as to varythereby the extent of the spacings between the sheets by varying theperipheral speed of the wheel itself without in any way affecting thecustomary mechanism used to intermit the suction'applied to such wheelto space the successive sheets. i

My improved sheet-feeder also embodies other novel features andimprovements by which the separation and feeding mechanisms aresimplified and made more effective and otherwise better adapted for use,all of which will be hereinafter described and then particularly pointedout in the appended claims. a 1

Of the drawin s, Fig. 1 is a top plan view of. a portion of t e feedershowing the suction feed-wheel and conveyor tap-estogetherwith-themechanism devlsed for regulating the peripheral sgreed of thefeed-wheel; Fig. 2 is a si e elevation of'Fig. 1; Fig. 3 a section takenon the line. 3- -3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line 44 of Fig. 2.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several figures.

Referring to the drawings, the side-frame 5 supports the feed-board 6upon which the sheets 7 rest preparatory to separation, as shown in Fig.1, the opposite side frame not being illustrated. In the presentembodiment the sheet separating and feeding mechanism comprises thesuction feed-wheel 8 (Figs.- 1 and 2) the peripheral rim -9 of l whichis formed with a series of spacedapart perforations 10 throughout, whichwheel 8 is mounted on the shaft llfjournalled in the sideframe The outerend of th-e shaft 11 carries the cone-pulley 12 around which passes thebelt-band 13 which in turn passes around the oppositely-coned pulley 14journalled on the stub shaft 15 fastened to the lever 16 pinned on theshaft 17 secured to' the side-frame '5 as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Therear end 18 of the lever 16 is formed. with the arcuate slot 19 throughwhich the threaded bolt 20 secured to the frame 5 passes with the nut 21fastened to the bolt end. By adjusting the lever 16 vertically on theshaft 17, any slack or tension of the belt-band 13 may be regulated.Fastened to the pulley 14 is the gear 22 which meshes with the gear 23journalled on the shaft 17. Secured to the gear 23 the tated to separatethe sheets 7 and advance I sa1ne to the conveyor tapes 29 between thelower feed roll 28 and the upper rollers 30, the wheel 8 revolving in'ananticlockwise direction (Fig. 2).

- The suction mouth piece 31 rests on the inner face of the perforatedrim 9 and is connected to the transverse suction tube 32 by the pipe 33as shown in Fig. 1. The required suction to operate the wheel 8 to en-rable it to pick up and separate the sheets on the feed-board 6 isapplied to the tube 32 from the hose 34 connected with anysuitableair-exhausting device not shown. Since these parts are common forms ofprinting machinery construction and are well known in the art, they neednot be more fullydescribed, it beingsuflicient to note that thethereafter carried forwardly by the conveyor tapes .29 in the usual way.

The mechanism for varying and controlling the velocity or peripheralspeed of the feed-wheel 8 may be widely varied in construction andoperation. In the present embodiment I have shown a simple and effectivemeans for manually shifting the belthand 13 inwardly or outwardly on theconepulleys 12 and 14 so as to regulate the velocity of the shaft 11 onwhich the feedwheel 8 is mounted. Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and 4, theinner end of the threaded bar is journalled into the side-frame 5 andhas" the washer nuts 36 and 37 affixed thereto on either side of theframe 5 as shown in Fig. l. The looped shifting plate 38 is slidable inwardly and outwardly on the guide ,bar 39 fastened to the side-frame 5as the threaded bar 35 is rotated. The plate 38 encloses the belt-band13 between the spaced-apart ends 40 as shown in Fig. 2. The lowerright-hand end of the plate carries the lug 41 having a threaded borecoaeting with the bar 35 as shown in Fig. 4, while the outer end of thebar 35 has pinned thereto the hand-crank 42 to rotate the bar 35 ineither direction so as to shift the plate 38 inwardly or outwardly asrequired.

The operation of my attachment for vary ing the peripheral speed of thesuction-wheel S is substantially as follows: While the wheel isrevolving at, a predetermined speed by the mechanism heretoforedescribed, the spacings between the sheets 7 is constant. Should theoperator desire to increase or diminish the spacings between the sheetsto time same with the printing, folding or ruling machine, all that isnecessary is to revolve the hand-crank in one direction or the other tothereby shift the plate 38 transverse ly on the guide bar 39 whichmovement carries and then maintains the belt-band 13 in anypredetermined position along the inclined peripheral surfaces of thecone-put leys 1'2 and 14. Such sidewise movement of the hand 13 on thepulleys 12 and 14: increases or diminishes the velocity of the rotatableshaft 11 and so'regulates the peripheral speed of the perforated rim 9of the wheel 8 whereby the relative spacings between the fed-off sheetsmay be readily and effectively adjusted and controlled by the operaeorwithout interfering in any way with the mechanism employed forintermitting the suction applied to the rim 9.

The foregoing construction embodies the principles of my invention, butvarious changes may be made in the structural details without departingfrom the scope of my improvements. However, the foregoing is sufficientto disclose the underlying principles and advantages as embodied in asue tion sheet-feeder.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a sheet-feeder, a suction feed-wheel having a perforated rim, asuction nozzle for applying pneumatic suction to the lowest portion ofthe rim to separate the successive sheets, means for rotating saidfeed-wheel, conveyor tapes moving at a uniform speed for forwarding thesuccessive separated sheets from said feed-wheel, and a single mechanismfor directly effecting differential revolutions to said wheel rotatingmeans relatively to the speed of said conveyor tapes while the feeder isin operation, whereby the spacings between the separated sheets may bevaried without affecting the suction applied to wheel rim through saidsuction nozzle.

2. In a sheet-feeder, a suction feed-wheel having a perforated rim, asuction nozzle for applying pneumatic suction to the lowest portion ofthe rim to separate the successive sheets, means for rotating saidfeed-wheel, conveyor tapes moving at a uniform speed for forwarding thesuccessive separated sheets from said feed-wheel, and a single mechanismcontrolled by the operator for directly effecting differentialrevolutions to said wheel rotating means relatively to the speed of saidconveyor tapes while the feeder is in operation, whereby the spacingsbetween the separated sheets may be varied without affecting the suctionapplied to wheel rim through said suction nozzle.

HARRY EHLIG.

